James is down to a final three

Phil Kornblut

Wednesday

Sep 5, 2018 at 11:00 AM

The list just keeps getting shorter for 6-7 Josiah James of Porter Gaud. From coast to coast offers, the state's top 2019 prospect trimmed his schools to nine. Then he picked a final four of Clemson, Tennessee, Duke and Michigan State for official visits. Now, Michigan State, his father's alma mater, is out.

"It did boil down to, he doesn't necessarily want to be like right next to home, but I think that far, he didn't want his parents to be straining to see him play," said Porter Gaud coach John Pearson. "I think that kind of started to hit him hard."

James will take his official visit to Tennessee this weekend. He will visit Clemson September 14th and Duke September 27th.

USC was one of the final nine but didn't make the shorter list. Pearson said the Gamecocks are keeping in touch just letting James know they are still there.

"I've developed a really good relationship so I don't think those talks are ever going to go away," Pearson said. "They remain open for Josiah if that's something he wants to do, but they understand."

The other schools James eliminated from his final nine are Kansas, Virginia, Arizona and Florida State.

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